Ohio Dems Blame Budget Problems on Kasich Cuts

Ohio Democrats say Gov. John Kasich’s local government funding cuts are to blame for Cincinnati’s budget woes.

Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio
Democratic Party, mentioned Cincinnati’s potential layoffs in a
statement released last week.

“Make no mistake, the only reason
Cincinnati has been forced to debate firing hundreds of police and
firefighters is because Gov. Kasich cut tens of millions of dollars to
the city in his last state budget,” the statement read.

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“As communities
like Cincinnati struggle to deal with the last round of cuts, Kasich’s
at it again, proposing to steal another $200 million from local
communities to help pay for tax giveaways to the rich. If Kasich gets
his way and passes his proposed handout to his friends, more communities
across the state will see layoffs, skyrocketing local tax levies and
deep cuts to schools.”

Kasich’s local government funding cuts
have caused Cincinnati to lose $40.7 million in state funding over two
years, according to Policy Matters Ohio.

With the support of Democratic officials
from around the state, Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld recently
launched a website called ProtectMyOhio.com to organize efforts to
restore local government funding cut during Kasich’s time in office. The
website is collecting signatures for a petition that will be mailed to
the governor.

In the past, Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols told CityBeat that cuts in local government funding and elsewhere were necessary to balance the budget.